Aye Finance, which offers loans to profitable micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), plans to use the new funds to expand its presence in the southern and western parts of India. Currently, Aye Finance has 33 branches in the northern states of the country, but just 2 in the South.

Part of the funds will be used to strengthen the company’s cloud-based technology for better risk analysis of potential MSME clusters. The company will set up a dedicated data warehouse this year.

The company plans to additionally raise nearly US$300 million in debt funds by the end of March 2018, co-founder Sanjay Sharma told Tech in Asia.

In this round of investment, the existing investors have brought in US$5.9 million, while new investor LGT contributed US$4.4 million. SAIF Partners now owns largest stake in Aye Finance at 28 percent.

To date, Aye Finance, has disbursed loans worth about US$15 million to 40 different MSME clusters such as brass casting, carpet manufacturing, garments trading, and restaurants. By March 2018, the company plans to increase its loan disbursal to over US$70 million, with additional 40 new clusters that it will add to its portfolio. Over the next five years, the company targets to disburse loans worth close to US$300 million.